Welcome to Georgia!

 

Baseball games. Large lakes. Cicada serenades. Clammy weather. Wonderful people.

Ahh, welcome to Georgia.

I’ve been here almost a month now, and it’s hard to believe how things have changed. Only a month ago I was working away at the caf� every day, every night surrounded with some of my favorite people in the world. At the time it was hard to imagine another side of life as great as the one I knew in Colorado. Yet here I am, new friends, new job, new activities to be involved in, and I have to tell you, God is good in every situation. Even lately, as frustrating as it is to get this girl to “rest”, God has been faithful in teaching me such lessons, removing every distraction and giving me more time of solitude than I’ve ever experienced before. It’s given me time to process some things, to step back and assess my life up to this point, and make changes for what now awaits me.

One of these lessons I want to share with you, knowing that many of you who may read this might find yourself in the same place I have most recently discovered. This quote by C.S. Lewis is extensive, but worth hearing:

“If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion…is not part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our LORD finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

John Piper followed this by saying, “for years I had been trying to suppress my tremendous longing for happiness so I could honestly praise God out of some “higher”, less selfish motive. But now it started to dawn on me that this persistent and undeniable yearning for happiness was not to be suppressed, but to be [filled] � on God!”

In many ways, this concept is new to me. Almost subconsciously I’ve maintained the notion that giving up our rights and expectations to follow God also means giving up our happiness.

That could not be further from the truth.

When we truly begin to grasp, as I have, that God means for us to truly enjoy Him (not out of obligation but out of the overflow of our gratitude), we become the happiest people in the world. “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!”

So, if you’re wondering what I’ve been up to lately, the answer is just that: I’ve been tasting and seeing that God is good! I’ve gotten to know and love the people around me, I’ve played Bingo and done exercises with elderly people, I’ve spent time with God beside a gorgeous lake, I’ve prayed often for my friends and family back home (or, homes, since I seem to have several).  I’ve poured over Scripture and discovered fresh insight each time. I’ve enjoyed God incredibly, and feel He has, in return, enjoyed me!

In less than a week now things will speed up with training camp, then a short time later I’ll head to Mexico for 8 weeks. But for now, in these remaining moments of solitude, I’m going to make the most of them.